Destination Marketing Podcast · 2026-06-09 · 53 min
In this special live episode of Destination Discourse, recorded on stage at the Destinations International Marketing and Communications Summit in Cleveland, Ohio, Adam Stoker and Stuart Butler tackle the questions the industry keeps dancing around: Why does a DMO actually exist, who is its primary customer, and if funding disappeared tomorrow, who would fight to bring it back? With live audience polling and real-time debate from DMO leaders across the country, the conversation cuts through the industry's tendency toward polite agreement and confronts an uncomfortable truth - as AI begins to disintermediate destination websites and reshape the entire travel research funnel, DMOs that have built their value proposition around web traffic alone may be sitting on a house of cards. It's one of the most candid conversations in destination marketing you'll hear this year.
443: The Hidden Engine Behind Virginia's Tourism Growth with Katie Conner57 / 100442: How Discover Long Island Built a Community-First Marketing Strategy with Allison Brown441: Stop Letting Other Destinations Own Your Story with Adam Geller439: Why DMOs Must Stop Capturing Demand and Start Creating It with Megan Buchbinder438: How to Build a Video Strategy That Actually Tells Your Destination's Story with Jesse Salazar